Following the story of the novel, while leaving out most of the really horrible stuff, Disney’s Hunchback tells the story of Quasimodo (Tom Hulce), the deformed bell ringer in the Notre Dame Cathedral. He foolishly believes that the evil Judge Frollo (Tony Jay) is looking out for his best interests. Quasi lives all alone up in the bell tower with only three gargoyles to keep him company, Victor, Hugo and Laverne (Charles Kimbrough, Jason Alexander and Mary Wickes), ’cause every Disney film needs a silly sidekick – or three in this case.

All Quasi wants is to go down and be around normal people once. Finally he does so where he meets the enchanting gypsy, Esmeralda (Demi Moore), who takes pity on him and helps him out. Quasi falls in love with her, but that’s too bad because Esmeralda has fallen in love with the Captain Pheobus (Kevin Kline). Misunderstandings ensue and Frollo realizes that he also loves Esmeralda and that if he can’t have her no one can. Will Pheobus and Quasi be able to put there differences aside long enough to save the woman of their dreams?

Visually, this is a pretty stunning film, even by today’s standards. The way 1400s Paris has been captured is beautiful. Even the dark dingy corners, of which there are many in this film, look great. This is a very dark film for Disney. Not as dark as the book, but there are scenes that could disturb little kids. I was kind of shocked that it wasn’t rated PG-13. There is one song where Frollo sings about how if Esmeralda won’t be his he will kill her and about how his feelings for her are confusing him and how she must be the devil or a witch or something. Frollo is a truly evil man and ranks up there as one of Disney’s worst villains.

This one of the more musical Disney films I’ve seen in a while. The songs, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, are some of the more grandiose in scale that I’ve heard. That’s not to say that I liked them, because I’m not the biggest fan of musicals, but I can easily see how someone who was would really enjoy this aspect of the film.

Then you have Part II, which is one of the most pathetic outings I’ve ever seen from Disney. The film was made in 1997 but not released until 2002, and it’s no wonder why. The story is boring, the new characters aren’t interesting and the animation looks more like a bad early-’90s TV cartoon than a Disney animated feature film. Also, at 66 minutes, it’s hardly a feature film. This movie is so bad it makes me want to lower the over all score of this review to one just for having it included here, but I’ll focus on the positives of part one when it comes to that.

This films are presented in 1.78:1 and 1.66:1 widescreen and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Part One is gorgeous, Part Two looks terrible. It’s hard to believe the two films are at all related.

You get all the same special features that were present on previous DVD releases. There is nothing new. Those features include a making of for both films as well as couple others for Part One.

While the first Hunchback was a beautiful yet mildly enjoyable Disney film, part two was terrible. I feel bad for the original cast that all came back for the sequel. I feel even worse for Jennifer Love Hewitt who says her dream was to be in a Disney animated film and she got stuck in Part Two, one of their worst efforts. I think Disney owes Hewitt an apology and another shot at a better film.

A film I’ve excited to see this weekend in theatres has been around nearly 20 years, was based off a best-selling novel and has been shown on television numerous times and is one I originally saw in theatres oh so many years ago. Jurassic Park is the latest film to be getting the 3D treatment in re-release, ostensibly because box office competition isn’t hot and heavy this time of year, and it’s also one of the more depressing films of the last 20 years in retrospect as a film fan. It’s like Titanic and any number of other films that came out between 1993 and 1998 or so in one aspect. It was looked at as a godsend when it took over and now has become something we complain about: CGI.

It’s why this weekend is kind of bittersweet for me in a way. Seeing Jurassic Park in theatres again is a reminder of just what happened when Hollywood figured out that instead of having to create visuals naturally, organically, they could rely on a team with a computer to do so for them. The technology had been around for a while but never quite like this. Once CGI became much more accepted and now you can make a film with nothing but green screens and a handful of props. Now you notice when it isn’t CGI and most massive blockbusters are riddled with them. While it’s made some movie concepts possible, of course, it’s a genie that you can’t put back in the bottle and that’s not the worst thing in the world. It’s just a tool that’s become a crutch and it’s why I can admire Jurassic Park because it used it gracefully.

It’s a touch up, not the full course, and was only used because it could take what they did and make it better.

The ‘90s are an underrated era of film because of this. You had so many films that used CGI but only to enhance a film for the most part; it didn’t become a crutch until the turn of the century or so. It’s one of the more fascinating aspects of special box set DVDs from this era: you can see how the scene was set up and then later enhanced with CGI. JP used animatronics that were touched up, among other things, and it looks clean in comparison to some CGI oriented films now.

You can tell how much a blockbuster has relied on the tool because it doesn’t feel right. It can look seamless with a shot but there’s an inner sense inside that it doesn’t look right. It’s why I’ll have my ticket in hand for Jurassic Park this weekend, too. In an era where film’s CGI budgets are more than some actors can make I can appreciate it when a tool was just that.

A Movie A Week – The Challenge

This Week’s DVD – About Last Night …

One of the things I miss about films from the ‘80s is that when they wanted to showcase a city a film was supposed to take place in they’d do more than just show a couple of landmarks and then film it somewhere cheaper. They’d take the time to actually make a film in Chicago that was set in Chicago and find places that are more than just what tourists would visit. It’s one of the reasons why About Last Night… works: it’s a Chicago film that feels like Chicago, not just Vancouver passing for the Windy City.

Based off the play “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” by David Mamet, and directed by Edward Zwick, this is a film that you looked at in the mid 80s that was going to be one of the ones people referred to when Rob Lowe eventually people recognized him as a star. One sex tape with a teenager later and Lowe wound up never able to really become the star he should’ve been. But he did manage to combine with Jim Belushi, Demi Moore and Elizabeth Perkins for a strong romantic comedy that’s getting remade for a more urban audience in 2014.

Danny (Lowe) and Debbie (Moore) wind up having a one night stand that turns into something substantive. Meanwhile their respective best friends (Belushi and Perkins, respectively) have to deal with the various relationship shenanigans that go on.

The thing I can appreciate about the film, as a Chicago guy and whatnot, is how there’s little things about the city that are incorporated into the film. It’s also a good film about the nature of relationships and how it affects those around you, too, but sometimes it’s nice to see a film about Chicago that actually feels like it.

Considering the film was originally based out of the city, and Mamet’s a Chicago guy, it’s not all that surprising but nearly three decades later it’s refreshing. And it’s held up fairly strongly over the years, too. This isn’t a great ‘80s film … it’s a great film that happened to have been made in the ‘80s. It’s why I’m curious about the remake and won’t immediately dismiss it.

Strongly recommended.

What Looks Good This Weekend, and I Don’t Mean the $2 Pints of Bass Ale and community college co-eds with low standards at the Alumni Club

Evil Dead (2013) – A bunch of teenagers go to a cabin and something murders them.

Skip it – The original isn’t all that good, despite Bruce Campbell being excellent. The only film in the original trilogy that’s any good is Army of Darkness and I doubt this’ll be anything decent.

]]>http://insidepulse.com/2013/04/01/monday-morning-critic-jurassic-park-and-the-legacy-legitimacy-of-cgi-20-years-later-jim-belushi-rob-lowe-and-demi-moore-in-about-last-night/feed/0Miley Cyrus And Demi Moore Stars in LOL Trailerhttp://insidepulse.com/2012/01/10/miley-cyrus-and-demi-moore-stars-in-lol-trailer/
http://insidepulse.com/2012/01/10/miley-cyrus-and-demi-moore-stars-in-lol-trailer/#respondWed, 11 Jan 2012 02:00:25 +0000http://insidepulse.com/?p=285853Miley Cyrus is back with a trailer for another film seemingly destined to wind up in a bargain bin sometime before 2012 is out in LOL.

Plot Summary: After 15-year-old Lola is dumped by her boyfriend, she sets her sights on his best friend. She begins her sexual awakening, and experiments with drugs. During Lola’s tribulations, her oblivious 40-year-old mother struggles to move on from her divorce.

]]>http://insidepulse.com/2012/01/10/miley-cyrus-and-demi-moore-stars-in-lol-trailer/feed/0Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore’s Divorce Reportedly About Checks & Not Other Chickshttp://insidepulse.com/2011/12/02/ashton-kutcher-demi-moores-divorce-reportedly-about-checks-not-other-chicks/
http://insidepulse.com/2011/12/02/ashton-kutcher-demi-moores-divorce-reportedly-about-checks-not-other-chicks/#respondFri, 02 Dec 2011 18:08:16 +0000http://insidepulse.com/?p=280575It is being reported that Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s split is more about money than the allegations that he was cheating.

E!’s Ted Casablanca is quoting a source close to the couple who said:

“I don’t hear this is about chicks. We all know it’s about the money.”

There is a lot of money to divide up considering Ashton’s multi-million dollar contract with Two And A Half Men.

While rumours continue to swirl that the Two And A Half Men star cheated on his wife on their sixth anniversary, the pair were seen on Friday night at the Kabbalah Centre in LA. They apparently sat across from each other and left together.

This follows news that they were seen camping yesterday at Cachuma Lake in California.

Editor’s note: This review originally ran October 5, 2010. We are republishing it to coincide with the film’s release on VOD today.

Bunraku is one of the strangest films you’re likely to see. The movie is a weird amalgam of comic book sensibilities, kung fu melodrama and western trappings — all pushed into the visual pedigree of Bunraku (the Japanese tradition of puppet theater). Guy Moshe wrote and directed this futuristic tale of revenge. Set in a world that has long outlawed guns, order is now carried out by the point of a sword. Ruling above all is Nicola the Woodcutter (Ron Pearlman), a murderous crime lord and the most powerful man east of the Atlantic.

Enforcing his rule are a team of assassins and their mob of henchmen, the Red Gang. Killer # 2 (Kevin McKidd) is Nicola’s right-hand man and potentially the most dangerous man alive. Smooth as a snake and with a dapper sense of style, Killer # 2’s dangerous as he is stylish. McKidd is amazing in the role. He dresses like a White Stripes band member and dances like Fred Astaire but don’t be fooled: he’s also really deadly with a sword and might just be mentally unstable.

Josh Hartnett stars as The Drifter, a cowboy in a world without guns. Rolling into town in search of Nicola and the vengeance he plans to wrought upon the crime lord, The Drifter quickly befriends a group of fellow heroes in wait including Yoshi (Japanese popstar Gackt), a samurai warrior who has refused to take lives, and The Bartender (Woody Harrelson), a source of drink and information who just happens to be a pop-up book enthusiast. There’s a great scene in which The Bartender shows off his latest pop-up book creation — a weirdly translated-through-the-ages tale of Spider-Man.

The real star of the movie, though, is the film’s unique visual style. Produced in much the same way Sin City or Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow were filmed, Bunraku creates an almost entirely artificial world around its characters. Instead of hyper-realistic computer animation, though, the world of Bunraku is made-up of towering paper landscapes and origami buildings. Bunraku is a film that continuously breaks the fourth-wall — wearing its influence (the Japanese theater style where the puppeteers would be on stage alongside their show) on its sleeve. Strings will drop down into a frame showing captions or infographics. Weird transitions bring to mind Michel Gondry’s Björk music videos. Much like the bunraku style of puppet theater, Bunraku utilizes the wry, over-the-top narration of an unseen commentator (Faith No More’s Mike Patton).

Unfortunately, Bunraku is a film that easily lets its visual style overwhelm its story and characters to the point where the film is pretty to look at but its plot is ultimately unsatisfying.

No number of amazingly choreographed fight sequences that mix martial arts alongside contemporary dance can change the fact that the film’s story is as flat as a sheet of paper used to build an origami swan. That’s what the director was shooting for, though. Bunraku theater is known for its timeless stories told in unique ways. Director Moshe was so dedicated to presenting an accurate representation of Bunraku theater that he went out of his way to find as clichéd and well-worn of a story as possible. Drifters avenging slain loved ones and samurais seeking peace may seem old hat but that’s because it purposefully is. Bunraku is more about the experience than the movie. The film literally throws in everything but the kitchen sink — animated sequences, musical numbers, flash cut editing, killer acrobatic clowns. Bunraku even has Demi Moore in the role of Nicola’s despondent lover.

Bunraku is a film definitely worth seeing — if only for the fact that there are few films like it that exist in the world. There’s something for everyone in Bunraku — if only just a taste. The plot may be shallow and the visual style may wear thin by the end but you can’t be a lover of film and not find something to enjoy in the weird stew that is Bunraku.

]]>http://insidepulse.com/2011/09/01/bunraku-review/feed/0Trailer For Financial Drama Margin Call Is Star-Studded But Leaves You Coldhttp://insidepulse.com/2011/07/26/trailer-for-financial-drama-margin-call-is-star-studded-but-leaves-you-cold/
http://insidepulse.com/2011/07/26/trailer-for-financial-drama-margin-call-is-star-studded-but-leaves-you-cold/#respondTue, 26 Jul 2011 15:00:12 +0000http://insidepulse.com/?p=259008Three years ago the United States suffered a financial crisis of apocalyptic proportions. With such an event you knew Hollywood would get around to making movies that could profit off the subject matter. Last year’s documentary Inside Job is a film that I’ve told others is one of the scariest movies you’ll ever see. Curtis Hanson’s (L.A. Confidential) HBO film To Big To Fail was also a solid drama about the crisis. This type of subject matter is very limited in its scope, however. Teens won’t be rushing to see a financial drama in theaters. But older audiences would. Which is why Margin Call, a star-studded drama based on the collapse could nab viewers looking to see something heavy once the summer season wraps.

Though the film may only be “based on a true story,” it’s hard to ignore the ensemble. Star Trek star Zachary Quinto (who also produced the feature) leads an impressive cast that also includes Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Simon Baker (TV’s The Mentalist) and Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl, Easy A).

Yahoo! Movies has debuted the trailer and it looks good for the most part, but also leaves you cold on account of the subject, but maybe also the power ties, suits, and drab color palate. Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions hope that viewers won’t be checking their stock portfolio when Margin Call arrives in theaters on October 21st.

]]>http://insidepulse.com/2011/07/26/trailer-for-financial-drama-margin-call-is-star-studded-but-leaves-you-cold/feed/0Bunraku Trailer Debutshttp://insidepulse.com/2011/07/22/bunraku-trailer-debuts/
http://insidepulse.com/2011/07/22/bunraku-trailer-debuts/#respondFri, 22 Jul 2011 08:00:33 +0000http://insidepulse.com/?p=258247Our friends at Ain’t It Cool have gotten their hands on an exclusive trailer: Bunraku. Our very own Robert Saucedo reviewed the film at Fantastic Fest, which you can read right here.

Plot Summary: In a hyper-saturated, hyper-driven dystopia, guns are banned and the sword is king.

Nicola the Woodcutter is the most powerful man east of the Atlantic, a shadowy crime boss who rules with an iron fist and nine assassins, plus the deadly Red Gang. His right hand man is Killer #2, a cold-hearted, smooth-talking murderer with a red hat and a deadly blade. Along with his killers is Nicola’s love, Alexandra, a femme fatale with a secret past. The citizens live in fear of this gang and wait for the hero who can overthrow them.

One night, a mysterious drifter enters the Headless Horseman Saloon and talks to the bartender. He wants two things: a shot of whisky and to kill Nicola. Soon, another stranger enters, a samurai named Yoshi. Yoshi wants to avenge his father by recovering a talisman that Nicola stole from his clan. Armed with crossed destinies and incredible fighting skills and guided by the bartender’s wisdom, the two eventually join forces to bring down the corrupt reign of Nicola, breaking bones and cracking heads in search of the Woodcutter.